Cavendish ended his self-imposed exile from the boards as he made his return to track cycling as a guest rider in the four-part Revolution Series.

Cavendish, who last appeared on the track in 2009 alongside Madison partner Peter Kennaugh at the Track Cycling World Championships in Pruszkow, Poland, was the undoubted star attraction of the night at the packed velodrome.

Indeed, such was the clamour surrounding the Briton that some riders were even spotted asking for autographs and wanting to be snapped with the sprinter.

After taking an early lead in the opening race of the evening, the 24-lap derny-paced scratch race, it appeared that the crowds were going to get exactly what they wanted: a Cavendish clean sweep.

However, the man nicknamed the Manx Missile was afforded little grace from his opponents as Steven Burke went on to win the first race of the meeting.

The world-class field assembled by organisers included many of Britain's top track and road stars including Geraint Thomas, Alex Dowsett, Ed Clancy, Andy Tennant and Kennaugh, while Belgian star Iljo Keisse and Franco Marvulli of Switzerland provided a distinctly Six Day race flavour to the evening.

In the team elimination, Cavendish's second race of the night, his three-man team lost out to Rapha-Condor-Sharp as they became the final team to drop out, before Andy Tennant went on to snatch victory from Keisse in a dramatic end to a thrilling race.

The 2005 Madison world champion, paired with Andy Fenn on Saturday, failed to make an impact in the Madison time trial before his final race of the night the 15km scratch race.

After Team Sky's Dowsett flew off the front in the opening lap, the chasing group remained calm before the young Essex rider rejoined the bunch.

With just one lap to go, the roof of the velodrome was in danger of lifting off as Cavendish, who had been tucked in behind Andy Fenn and Thomas, made his move.

The Manxman hit the final bank before flying into the straight, leaving the pack in his wake. Pandemonium ensued.

Cavendish, though, confirmed he has no plans for a return to the track with Team GB.

“It's great to be back here in Manchester, this is where it all started for me,” Cavendish told Telegraph Sport.

“It's great being able to be here and show it [the rainbow jersey] off. Giving something back,” he said before adding that his outing was a one-off.

“There's no way I'm going back to the track, this is a one-off. Definitely.”

TV highlights of the racing will be broadcast on ITV4 at 7pm on Monday Nov 21, 2011